Amid coronavirus fallout, Chicago will give $1,000 grants to help some residents with mortgage payments

The city of Chicago will give one-time $1,000 grants to help residents who have suffered financially due to the coronavirus outbreak with rent and mortgage payments, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced.

Lightfoot announced the COVID-19 Housing Assistance Grant program Friday, which she said will go toward Chicagoans “who have lost their jobs or otherwise been impacted by the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.”

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The city will spend $2 million from its Affordable Housing Opportunity Fund for the payments.

“This program represents a critical resource not only to our communities but our entire city as we navigate this evolving challenge and ensure every Chicagoan remains safe, healthy and secure," Lightfoot said in a statement.

Half the grants will be awarded through a lottery system, the mayor’s office said, and the other half will go through nonprofit community organizations that will distribute them. Residents can apply online at the city’s coronavirus webpage.

To qualify, residents must show an unemployment insurance claim, proof of an employment status change and proof that they make 60% of the area median income.

The grants will be awarded between early and mid-April, the city said.

In a conference call with reporters, Lightfoot said immigrants living in the country without legal permission can apply, as residents are eligible “regardless of your citizenship status.”

Marisa Novara, Chicago’s housing commissioner, said the grant program was strategically designed to help those specifically in precarious situations, which include workers living in the country illegally.

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“We will not ask, or have interest in, the applicant’s citizenship status,” Novara said on a phone call.

The commissioner added that the application was designed to be “flexible,” so that precarious workers, such as street vendors, also can apply and qualify even if they don’t have a letter from an employer, check stub or bank statement to prove their income loss.

“Just talk to us, we want to hear from you,” Novara recommends, adding that the partnership with community organizations is intentional to reach those who don’t speak English or have internet access. The application is available in five languages.

Due to the pandemic and the emergency nature of the program, the one-time grant would not count as a public charge, Novara said.